There's everything in the 2,200 skiable acres from gentle beginner slopes to steep expert chutes. If that's not enough, Yellowstone Club backs onto the vast Big Sky resort. All that, and you can bag some runs with extreme ski legend Scot Schmidt, who is the club's resident ski pro.

Getting there: Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport is only an hour's drive from Yellowstone Club with daily flights from across the United States. Transfers to and from the airport can be arranged by car or helicopter

Cimarron Mountain Club is set to offer ultra-exclusive skiing when it opens in December 2018.

Cimarron Club

Cimarron Mountain Club, Colorado, USA

Who for: Those who REALLY hate lift lines

Cimarron Mountain Club could just be the most exclusive resort-based ski experience in the world when it opens in December 2018.

The 1,750-acre property in the San Juan Mountains between Telluride and Crested Butte will be available to just 15 home-owning families and their guests.

The initial buy-in is likely to be about $3.4 million, with annual dues between $55,000 and $65,000.

Members are then deeded a site on which to build a cabin, although they may prefer to stay in the six-bedroom lodge or one of four club cabins.

The ski area encompasses 1,000 acres along the club's two-and-a-half miles of the Cimarron Ridge, with access to another 950 acres of public land. The 60 runs will be reached by snowcat, with six distinct areas offering a variety of terrain from leisurely groomed runs to glades, chutes and bowls.

Each member is guaranteed 115 days of cat-skiing a year on an area the club claims is bigger than Aspen Mountain. And with a limit in the current accommodation of just 36 guests, that's a lot of skiable acreage per person.

Getting there: Cimarron Club is 45 minutes by car or 10 minutes by helicopter from Montrose airport, which offers private jet services and seasonal non-stop flights from a range of national hubs.

Eagle Point, Utah, USA

Eagle Point, halfway between Salt Lake City and Las Vegas in southern Utah, is a public ski resort with an exclusive twist.

With a lofty base at 9,100 feet it receives more than 350 inches of Utah's legendary dry powder a year, which can be exclusively yours for three days a week.

For the pocket change of $10,000 a day, the entire mountain -- five lifts, 40-plus pine-clad runs, 600 skiable acres, 1,500 feet of vertical -- can be rented Tuesday-Thursday, January through the end of March, for individuals or groups of up to 200 on corporate junkets.

Accommodation is mostly in condos although there are larger homes with hot tubs and all the luxury trim.

Getting there: Las Vegas is a three-hour drive southwest of Eagle Point, Salt Lake City is about the same to the north. Small private jets can fly into Beaver Municipal airport, which is 22 miles away.

Powder Mountan is an upside-down ski area in the San Juan Mountains of Utah.

Powder Mountain

Powder Mountain, Utah, USA

Who for: Early birds and entrepreneurs

"Pow Mow," as it's known to locals, is something of a powdery garden of Eden. That's Eden, Utah, an hour north of Salt Lake City in the Wasatch mountains.

It's not exactly private -- in fact, it's very much public -- but lift tickets are limited to 1,500 per day to preserve its soul.

Powder Mountain was taken over in 2013 by the Summit collective of new-age entrepreneurs and thought leaders, with funds boosted by crowdsourcing big names such as Virgin Group founder Richard Branson and Alphabet, Inc.'s Eric Schmidt.

The vision is to build a controlled and sympathetic next-generation alpine town at 8,600 feet at the top of this upside-down ski area, appealing to artists, innovators and influencers.

Nine lifts currently access the 167 runs to provide a lift-served skiable area of 7,957 acres, which the resort claims is the largest area per skier in the US.

The highest lift goes to Hidden Lake Lodge at 8,900 feet, but there are also expansive avalanche-controlled snowcat skiing areas, for $25 a drop, which funnel back to shuttle bus stops or lifts.

Getting there: Powder Mountain is 55 miles from Salt Lake City and 20 minutes from the former frontier town of Ogden, and the Ogden-Hinckley airport with services from Phoenix, LA and Las Vegas.

HoliMont, New York, USA

Who for: Upstate New York set, Pennsylvania pilgrims, families

HoliMont, a contraction of "Holiday Mountain," opened in 1962 and is now the largest private ski club in the United States.

It's open to the public during the week but weekends are reserved for the 4,000 members to enjoy the 52 tree-lined trails, eight lifts and 135 skiable acres, with plans to develop the Westmont Ridge ski area.

The skiing rises to a high point of 2,260 feet, giving a 700-foot vertical drop amid the rolling Enchanted Mountains near Lake Erie.

The initiation fees begin from about $10,000, with family dues from $177 per month.

Accommodation is in the Ellicottville area although there are plans to add real estate near Westmont Ridge.

Getting there: The nearby town of Ellicottville is just under an hour's drive south of Buffalo in upstate New York.

Temple Basin, South Island, New Zealand

Who for: Back-to-basics fans, the non-designer ski suit set

New Zealand is renowned for its "clubbies," small back-to-basics ski fields operated by club members. They're open to the public, too, but one, Temple Basin, has what locals call the "Range Rover filter" to dissuade the latte-drinking, designer ski-suit set.

"TB" can only be reached on foot -- a 50-minute haul up a jeep track while your luggage is whisked up in the goods lift. This gives it an air of privacy for the hardcore NZ skiers for whom enjoying a raw mountain experience -- there are no groomed runs either -- is more important than heated chairlifts and hot tubs.

The three rope tows -- accessed via a "nutcracker" metal clamp which grabs the moving rope and is attached to a waist harness -- open up 790 acres of skiable area and a variety of descents for intermediates and above including some steep, rocky big-mountain terrain for experts.

For those bitten by the bug, there is bunkhouse accommodation offering dinner, bed and breakfast.

Getting there: It's a two-hour drive from Christchurch to Arthur's Pass followed by a 50-minute walk to the ski area.